Anti-incumbency in Haryana, at Centre did Congress in

A near-decade of anti incumbency in Haryana and at the Centre coupled with the Modi wave has devastated the Congress in the state.

The outcome of the Lok Sabha elections is particularly significant in view of the imminent assembly elections due in 2014. The rout of the Congress, the superlative performance of the BJP, and the recovery of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) are certain to influence the dynamics of the forthcoming 2014 assembly elections.

CongressFor a party, which won nine out of 10 seats in the 2004 and 2009 general elections, the only consolation perhaps was the solitary win of Deepender Singh Hooda, son of Haryana chief minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Rohtak seat. However, even Deepender’s impressive win of over 1.5 lakh votes will not comfort the Congress as the party suffered serious reverses in Kurukshetra, Hisar, Gurgaon and Bhiwani-Mahendergarh where its candidates finished poor third and lost by big margins in remaining six seats. Its vote share percentage has also dipped to 22.9% this time from 41.77 % in 2009 Lok Sabha polls

The tally spells trouble for the Congress, which won back-to-back assembly victories in 2005 and 2009 to form the government in Haryana.

BJPThe BJP, which won seven out of the eight seats it contested in alliance with Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), has surely delivered one of its best performances ever in Haryana. There are indications that the saffron party having experienced a fantastic run in Haryana may like to go it all alone in the assembly polls. Its vote share has increased to 34.7% this time compared to 12.09% in 2009 Lok Sabha polls when it contested five seats only.

HJCBJP’s electoral ally — the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), however, would be disappointed as it lost both Hisar and Sirsa comprehensively to the INLD candidates. HJC chief Kuldeep Bishnoi who himself lost by over 31,000 votes to INLDs Dushyant Chautala resigned as party chief soon after the declaration of the results. Bishnoi, who was once projected as the chief ministerial candidate for the BJP-HJC alliance, stares at uncertainty in view of the changed political scenario.

INLDThe Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), which is passing probably through its worst crisis following the incarceration of party chief, Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son, Ajay Chautala, the victories in Hisar and Sirsa will be a shot in the arm. The wins has also established Chautala’s youngest son, Abhay Singh who handled the entire poll campaign single-handedly, as a leader of some stature.

Besides, the INLD would draw confidence from their performance as it was without an ally in this election.

INLD’s vote share has also increased to 24.4% this time as compared to 15.68% in 2009 when it contested five seats.

AAPThe Aam Aadmi Party which did well in the neighbouring Punjab proved a big letdown in Haryana. AAP’s best bet, Yogendra Yadav finished fourth from Gurgaon, securing about 79,000 votes. An indicator of their five AAP candidates each in fact finished at the fourth and fifth spot.